Frame for stretching shade cloth



6b J. P. WHITMORE FRAME FOR smmcnms SIIA-IADE CLOTH Filed April 14, 1925INVEjVTOR. fi? W/7/77770/6 ATTORNEY.

' the upper and'lowerrails, on line 2-'2-'in it being understood ;that;the construction v, shown fforsuch section is substantially the PatentedFeb. 22, 1927.

, "KUINIITED STATES JOHN P. WHITMOZRE,,OF SAN MARINO, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGNOR'TO COLUMBIA IvIILLS INCORPORATED, OFNTEWYQRK, N. Y., ACORPORATION 0 E FOR STRETCI-IING-SHADE CLOTH.

Application filedApril '14, 1925. 'Serial No.1 23,057.

This invention relates to-means for stretching shade cloth or otherfabric for the :purpose of holding it inplace-and'in extended conditionwhile it is being painted or sized and-dried and themain object of theinven tion is to provide a frame for this purpose which is lighter andmore compact-than the wooden :rail frames heretofore in use. furtherobject of-the invent-ionis-to provide a frame for thestat'ed purposewhich can readily be kept clean or sufliciently free from adherentpaintused in the painting of the shade cloth or other fabric. Another objectof the invention is to-provide a frame which will interfere to the leastpossible extent with theproper-andthorough application of the-paint orsizing medium'to the portions of the fabric adjacent-the edges where itis; attached to the frame. V I

The invention comprises a shade cloth stretching frame in which thetopand bottom'rails are Wholly ofmetal and are of such shape andconstructionto-provide for't-he necessary rigidityin the rails with aminimum of weight and extremecompactness.

The accompanying drawings illustrate'my invention-and referringthereto:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation'ofa frame section with shadeo-loth'mountedtherein and 'partlybroken away. 4

=Fig1 2is a vertical transverse section o-f i-g.-3. Fig. :3 isapartial-rear ele'vationof the upper and lower rails.

Figs. land 5-,are vertical transverse sections showing-modified forms ofthe rails.

The invention comprises a framehaving upper-railsand lowerrailsconnected by'suitable stretching bars as hereinafter described, :t-hesaid'ra-ils being i-n-general made in a series of sectionswhich areconnected end to end so as to provide forstretehing a relatively-longpiece of;sha de-cloth,'-Fig. 1 illus trating-a portion of the frameincluding a single section-of {t-he- 'upper-;and *lower rails,

' same -tl1rougho11t -the length of the :Erame. '2s11ch:.rmn1esectioncomprises an upper-rail 1- and-a lower rail "2, said rails beingof simi lar -construction"'but in -relatively' inverted position asshownin Fig. 2; Each rail comprises a main rail member formed as r a flangedm'etalra'il for example a channel iron as indicatedat 3 in Figs. 2 and3, and a fixed clamp member or clampplatezmember i-for-mecl for exampleof a-stripof sheet metal sons to give the required rigidity, said clampplate being-permanently and rigidly secured adjacent one edgeto thenrailmember 3 by suitable means for example by rivets, infdicated at 5; andhaving its major portion projecting vertically fronrthe rail memberso--as to'provide a relatively :thin member for attach-menuof the cloth.1Eaeh clamp plate 4 is provided, atits outer orifree -'edge,-thatistosay atthe aloWeredge-of the upper clamp-plate and the upperedge ofthe lower clamp plate, with a flange. or turned overportion 6 formingjagroovei7 cooperating with movable clamp :means as :hereinafter describedto secure the shade cloth on the clamp member 4. 'Saidmovable clampmeansmay be of any suitable construction,

andis herein shown as comprisingmovable 1 the 1 mil members 3 "forexample by 7 means of bolts 17 ,andbeing.pivotally secured .to

fish plates being secured rigidly to one of the other of said railmembers by bolts: 1.8.

The: construction is therefore such that the lowerrail maybe raised orlowered at (any 1 of the oints between sections without-straining therail members. The upper rails of adacent sections may besecuredtogetherfor example by: a fish plate or tie plate- 19 and bolts 20passing through said-fish plate and saidra-il sections. The upper fixedclamp plate members 4 of the adjacent .sections may also be .7 securedtogether forv example by means of straps 21 and rivets '22.

Means are provided for forcing or: spread- "ing the HIDPQI fLDCl'lOXVGTrails apart at the ints of the lower rail after the cloth isisecured:thereto so as to stretch such cloth. .Such v means may comprise, forexample i spreading arins le oivotallymounted on the lower-rail membersadjacent each joint, for example by means of the pivot bolts 18aforesaid or if desired by means of one of the bolts 17', and a leverarm 27) pivotally mounted on the upper rail, for emunplc, by means ofUshaped straps 53(3 and bolts 27. Each of said lever arms provided witha pin or stud 28 adapted to engage in any one of a plurality of recessesor notches 29 in the corresponding spreading arm 24, so that downwardmovement of lever arm 2:, with said stud engaged in a suitable notchwill cause spreading: arm 2st to force the upper and lower rails apartat this point. The above described spreading mains are such as arecon'unonly used in the art and any other suitable or wellknown means maybe used for this purpose.

The frame may be hung or supported in any suitable manner, for example,by means of wire hangers 30 and eye-bolts 31, said hangers depending forexample, from means travelling in suitable ways, to perwit theassemblageof a large number of theframcs in parallel order and ofseparation of adjacent frames for access thereto in inserting, paintingor removing the cloth.

The rail members of the upper and lower rails may be of any suitableshape or crosssection, but are preferably flanged in order to providemaximum strength and rigidity; for example as shown in Fig. l, said members may comprise angle irons, or as shown in Fig. 5 they may compriseT-bars, to which the fixed clamp plates 4 are secured in any suitablemanner, the remainder of the construction being substantially the sameas above described.

It. will be understood that the frame need not be disposed in a verticalplane but may be ar'anged in any other suitable position, for example ina horizontal plane. The frame comprises in any case, however, twosubstantially parallel rails, preferably extending horizontally but notnecessarily so,

and each comprising a relatively strong rail member preferably flangedand a relatively thinmetal clamping member rigidly secured thereto andprojecting therefrom toward the other rail and having a groove adjacentits free edge, and a movable clamping memher hinged thereon and adaptedto cooperate therewith to secure the cloth in position between therails.

In the operation of the stretching; frame above described a strip orsheetof window shade cloth or other fabric to be stretched, indicated at33, is inserted at its upper and lower edges between the moving, andfixed members 8 and d of the respective clamping means, the movableclamping members 8 be ing moved to the position indicated in dottedlines at S in Fig. 2 to permit insertion of the edges of the fabricwithin groove 7 after which said movable clamp members are pushed orsnapped into the position indi cated in full lines in said Fig. 2, so asto engage the edges of the fabric as at- 2-32 and hold the same tightlyin place. It will be understood that during the insertion of the clothwithin the clamping means in this manner the lower rail 2 may besupported at a suitable height in any suitable manner, for example bycausing the pin 28 on lever arm 25 to engage in a suitable notch 29 inarm 24 and allowing said arms to rest in a vertical position as shown indotted lines at in Fig. 1. After the fabric thus clamped throughout theentire length of the stretching frame the spreading arms are releasedfrom engagen' ent and swung to horizontal position, suitable supportingclips indicated at 3? being provided at the back of the respective railsfor this purpose, and the sizing medium, for example a suitable glue andwater size, is applied to one or both sides of the fabric by means of abrush or in any other suitable manner. As soon as the sizing is appliedto an entire strip of cloth, the operator begins the stretchingoperation at one end of the frame. This is done by swinging; the arms 21and 25 to a position to permit. the pin 28 to engage in a higher notch.29 than that with which it originally engaged, as indicated at in Fig.1, and lever arm 25 is then moved downward so as to push the lower frame2 downward and stretch the fabric, The arms 2i and are thereforecon'nnonly known as stretcher bars. This operation may be repeated ifnecessary until the proper amount of stretching is obtained. The railsare then held in this position so as to n'laintain the fabric instretched condition by bringing the arms 2% and 25 to vertical positionwith the pin 28 engaged in a suitable notch 29.

and the same stretching operation is then repeated at the next jointbetween the lower rail sections. The entire strip of fabric is thusstretched and kept in stretched condition by engagement of the stretcherbars 1 until the sizing medium has dried, which may require forexan'lple from 8 to 12 hours or longer.

lVhen the entire strip of fabric has been sized, stretched, and driedinthis manner, the stretcher bars may again be released and allowed torest on supports 37, as the sized cloth will then retain its stretchedcondition, assisted only by the weight of the lower rail. The paint tobe used may be applied to both sides thereof in the usual manner, forexample by means of an ordinarybrush and it will boobserved, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2 that the fixed clamping members 4: being of relativelythin sheet metal and having their.

major portions projecting from the rail members permit easy access of abrush or other device for applying such paint as well as for applyingthe sizing medium to the portions of the cloth adjacent the edges atwhich it is attached to said clamping means.

V This is to be distinguished from the type of stretching framesheretofore employed which comprised wooden upper and lower rails whichwere necessarily of considerable thickness at the edges at which thefabric was secured thereto. \Vith such wooden rails it has alwaysheretofore been extremely.

difficult to properly and thoroughly apply the paint or sizing medium tothe portions of the cloth adjacent the point at which it was attached tothe wooden rail since the thickness of such rails at this point prevented ready access of the brush to the cloth. This constitutes animportant advantage of my invention. A further advantage results fromthe fact that the paint or sizing medium and particularly a sizingmedium comprising glue or the like, such as is ordinarily used,adheresmuch less to the metal clamping members and rail members 3 and 4 than itdoes to the wooden rails formerly used. In fact when using stretchingframes having wooden rails it has generally been found necessary toperform a tedious and timeconsuming cleaning or scraping operation toremove the adhered glue or sizing medium from such wooden rails afterevery two or three stretching or sizing operations, while by the use ofstretching frames having metal rail members I am enabled to use thesamerepeatedly without undue accumulation of glue thereon as the glueupon drying does not adhere strongly to the metal surface of the framemembers but scales or falls off readily without requiring manualcleaning or scrubbing.

After application of the paint as above 'for stretching the cloth.

sized and painted cloth is then removed from the frames. To permit suchremoval of the cloth the movable clamping members are again opened ormoved to the position indicated at 8, such opening operation beingeasily performed for example by inserting a pointed tool or rod underthe edges of the clamps 8 or the straps 10 and prying the same outwardpast the dead center position. Or, if desired, the main strip of clothmay be removed by cutting along the edges next to the clamps, and theremaining edge portions of the cloth then removed from the clamps.

I claim; 7

In astretching frame for shade-cloth a flanged metal rail member, afixed clamp member consisting of a sheet metal strip secured adjacentone edge to said rail member and having its major portion projectingtherefrom, and having its other edge bent to form a groove, and amovable clamp member hinged to said rail member and adapted to engage insaid groove to secure the shadecloth therein, the sheet metal stripafiording access to both sides of the cloth fastened thereto in paintingsuch cloth and the metal rail member providing the strength required Intestimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day ofApril, 1925.

JOHN P. WHITMORE.

